How VC Firms Are Making the Transition Back to Normal: The EVCA Return to Work Survey Results

With the last year and a half spent working remotely due to the coronavirus pandemic, the nature and place of work has fundamentally changed for us all. As the country begins to open up, many workplaces are still in the process of figuring out what the future of work will look like. Accordingly, we at the EVCA ran a survey across our membership to assess the approaches of venture firms to get back to the office. Our survey includes the responses of 72 different firms across the San Francisco Bay Area, New York City, and other venture firm "hot spots" across the U.S.

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The key takeaways of this survey are as follows:

• Of 72 survey respondents from different venture firms across the U.S., the vast majority of respondents (76.9%) reported that their office will open in September 2021.
• The vast majority of survey respondents (66.2%) said that they expect to be in the office less frequently than before the coronavirus pandemic; 26.8% remain uncertain; and 7% reported that they do not expect to be in the office less frequently than before the coronavirus pandemic.
• The vast majority of survey respondents (66.2%) have begun taking in-person meetings at least outside of the office.
• The significant majority of firms (93%) kept their offices throughout the pandemic, but 7% actually closed their office spaces.

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Check out the full survey results below!

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Of the 72 respondents, 59.2% were from firms based in San Francisco and 15.5% were from firms based in New York City.

Of the 72 survey respondents, 93.0% said that their firms kept their office during the pandemic; 7% of venture firms disposed of their offices.

The vast majority of respondents (68.4%) are at venture firms that have indicated when their offices will open.

The vast majority of respondents (76.9%) reported that their office will open in September 2021.

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Of survey respondents, 52.6% are not sure that they will be taking external meetings once their firms reopen; 47.4% said that they will be taking external meetings upon reopening.

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Of survey respondents, 59.6% have reported that they are taking external meetings in the office.

The vast majority of survey respondents (66.2%) said that they expect to be in the office less frequently than before the coronavirus pandemic; 26.8% remain uncertain; and 7% reported that they do not expect to be in the office less frequently than before the coronavirus pandemic.

A significant proportion of survey respondents (47.9%) mentioned that they expect to be in the office multiple times a week; 18.3% expect to be in the office daily; 16.9% expected to be in the office multiple times a week; and 4.2% expect to not return to the office.

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The vast majority of survey respondents (66.2%) have begun taking in-person meetings at least outside of the office.